


Underswap One-Shot: Have We Met Before?

by SomethingtwopointO



Category: Undertale, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Gender Neutral, Neutral Route, Pacifist Route, Reader Insert, Toriel (Undertale) - Freeform, asgore (Undertale) - Freeform, but not no-mercy, except maybe in a past timeline, gender neutral reader, if you interpret it that way - Freeform, it can be considered as either, neutral, pacifist, pacifist/neutral, pacifist/neutral route, somewhat genocide reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 10:27:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10919943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomethingtwopointO/pseuds/SomethingtwopointO
Summary: You meet Underswap Papyrus and Underswap Sans! Though it would seem that Papyrus is remembering something that you can't grasp.





	Underswap One-Shot: Have We Met Before?

You let out a little squeak and jumped at the loud slam from the grand Ruins doors. The sound shortly echoed through the flourishing forest before you. Soft, green grass glittered in the mock-sunlight and the bright petals of flowers gently beckoned you with their tantalizing aroma. You breathed in deeply and couldn't help but smile. You had no idea what Asgore was talking about; this place seemed lovely!

The crunch of dirt and rock beneath your feet followed you up to a bridge with what you could only assume was a poorly made gate. The bars were far too spread out and left wide spaces that were easy to pass through.

You went to take a step in between a pair of bars when you heard footsteps that were definitely not yours or Asgore's. Your brain screamed at you to whip around and face the owner of the heavy footfall, but your body was paralyzed in fear. Asgore had warned you about other monsters, but you hadn't really believed it.

You felt a firm grip on your shoulder – which may or may not have made you jump. “H u m a n ,” a thick, scratchy voice drawled out, “d o n ' t y o u k n o w h o w t o g r e e t a n e w f r i e n d ? T u r n a r o u n d a n d s h a k e m y h a n d .”

You stood as still as a statue until you felt the grip on your shoulder tighten. You slowly, painstakingly turned to face...a skeleton. Were there hallucinogens in that forest?

The monster gave you a wide, toothy grin. He looked too happy, suspiciously so. He raised his brow bones and shook his outstretched hand at you.

Your mouth opened and closed a few times, but you couldn't find the courage to oppose the skeleton who towered over you. Instead, you grasped his hand to shake it. Just as you did so, you heard a farting noise from in between you and the skeleton.

Not long after, he burst into laughter. “Nyeh heh heh! The ol' whoopie cushion-in-the-hand trick, never fails!” He gave you a curious look, “What? Have you done this trick before?”

To be honest, it felt like you had. It no longer seemed funny, though you couldn't recall ever experiencing it.

“Anyway,” the skeleton said, ignoring your lack of enthusiasm, “I'm Papyrus, Papyrus the skeleton, but you can call me 'Paps' for short.”

You nodded your head, not sure how friendly you wanted to be with a potential threat.

Papyrus smiled expectantly at you before shrugging. “So, uh, you're a human, right? I'm supposed to be a sentry for those, but I couldn't really care less, y'know? My bro, on the other hand, it's his life dream to capture a human.”

“O-Oh...” you murmured, not certain how you should respond to that.

Papyrus chuckled softly. “Looks like that's him there,” he nodded past the gate, “Just walk through the gate, my brother made the gaps too wide to trap anyone.”

You didn't really want to turn your back on Papyrus, and his brother sounded more dangerous. You hesitated, biting your lip, before reluctantly crossing the bridge. You heard someone calling Papyrus's name and his chuckling as a response to it.

“Here,” Papyrus gently pushed you behind a lamp that was conveniently shaped like you, “hide behind this.”

You gave little resistance and watched him from your hiding spot. Though you were very grateful for it, you still wondered why Papyrus was being so kind to you. Asgore had warned you that monsters would try to hurt you and take your soul for some plan of a so-called Toriel. Papyrus had said he was a sentry, but that he didn't really care. Maybe he was trustworthy-

“Papyrus!” a deep voice yelled, the same one that you'd heard calling to Papyrus a moment ago. “Papyrus! What are you _doing_?! Why aren't you at your sentry looking for humans?!”

You risked peeking past the lamp to catch a glimpse of Papyrus's (rather loud) brother. What you saw was definitely not what you were expecting. You saw a short, slightly stout skeleton in the strangest get-up. He wore shoulder pads that seemed to serve as armor. He wore a blue bandanna, high-heeled boots, and a confident air. If anyone else was wearing that outfit, they'd look a fool, but this skeleton somehow made it work.

Papyrus gave a practiced chuckle. “Aw, bro, I _was_ looking for humans. I just happened to be asleep while doing it. You know how _bone-tired_ I get when I work so hard.”

The other skeleton gave a long-suffering, frustrated groan. “Pa-py-rus!” he said, heavily pronouncing each syllable, “You can't sleep while looking for humans! Also, you don't _work_! How can you be tired?! Don't think I missed that pun, either!”

Papyrus's grin widened, “Well, Sans, there are a skele- _ton_ more where that came from.”

Sans stomped his foot and placed his hands on his hips while complaining that Papyrus's puns would give humans a bad impression.

It seemed to you that neither of the brothers were harmful or had ill-intent. Without thinking, you stepped out from behind the lamp and faced Sans.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Papyrus began, looking at you with surprise and fascination, “I forgot to mention the human I found.”

Sans's eye sockets widened, and the lights inside of them seemed to sparkle. “OH. MY. GOD. ARE YOU REALLY A HUMAN?!” Sans screamed.

You flinched and winced at his volume, but smiled anyway. “Yep, one-hundred percent human here! Forty-six chromosomes and all!” you replied, trying to reciprocate Sans's enthusiasm and Papyrus's quick wit, but ending up sounding nervous and awkward.

Sans smiled widely at you, “I don't know what you're talking about, but it doesn't matter! All that matters is how I capture you with stumping puzzles and daring japes! Mweh heh heh!”

You watched, slightly dumbfounded, as Sans struck a pose and bounded away with surprising speed.

“Yep, well, that's my bro for you. He's pretty cool, right?” Papyrus asked nonchalantly.

You stared at him, waiting for him to continue, before you realized that his question wasn't rhetorical. “Oh, uh, sorry,” you mumbled, “Yeah, he's, uh, something alright.”

Papyrus nodded, but offered no approval or disapproval towards your response. “You kinda shocked me there when you took matters into your own hands, so to speak. Whatever, you like to live dangerously, I guess. Anyway, it'd really make my day – and Sans's – if you played along with the whole 'capturing' thing. Don't worry, none of his puzzles will trap you. Besides, I'm sure you'll find them _really familiar_.”

Your skin prickled as the mood darkened, Papyrus's smile now looking strained. You nodded quickly, unsure how to ease his passive-aggression towards you.

Luckily, that seemed to do it, Papyrus's smile regained its ease and crookedness. “Cool, see you around, kid.” He began to walk off in the opposite direction that Sans had gone.

You didn't question it, instead following Sans; away from the Ruins and whatever had just occurred between Papyrus and you. You didn't know what he was talking about, you weren't one for puzzles. You just wanted to get it over with and get away from this place as soon as possible.


End file.
